A Clean Slate
by BronyShire
Summary: Aleksandr Marchant has always had a hard time fitting in a new places, with the amount of times he's had to move with his adopted families. This time it's different though, he's settled down well enough only to move to a whole new country. America, Colorado is where he'll have to spend several years, and starting school again on the last year is not going to be easy.


I am not quite familiar with how the American or Russian education system works, and the legal ages for moving out, as goes for Spanish and Russian meals. All of the extra information is thanks to Google.

* * *

Despite the amount of times Aleksandr had stuffed his belongings into various suitcases and boxes, each time just felt as painful as the last. Just as he had started to get comfortable in this small town in Russia, he had to move again. It was different this time though, he had been with this family for over 3 years now and he thought that all the moving was over - that he had finally found a family who wanted him. He never knew the true reason for why he was put up for adoption, he had moved orphanages too many times to even remember where he started off. Families always liked him at first, the mothers would always say he was an 'attractive young boy' and the fathers always thought he was a 'strapping healthy lad', even though he could never see it himself. After time though, they'd start to realise his bad habits like his screaming at video games late at night, and his loud bass playing in the early hours of the morning. He'd be passed on again, packing up his things and moving once again. As time went on, he had to pack less and less things since what was the point of being attached to small objects if they had to be moved again, it was just common sense.

Now though, he wasn't just moving to another town but to a whole other country. America, Colorado which he had heard got pretty cold in the winter. Perfect, he didn't exactly want to get sun burnt on Christmas day. It had taken the longest to pack this time, because this wasn't just some house now - it was his home. His posters hanging up on the walls: Flight of the Concords, a few Minecraft posters, and a couple of the bands he had liked. It was going to be hard, despite how welcoming Colorado sounded he was sure to be made fun of at some point for his strong Russian accent. He had learned to speak English fairly quickly, mostly to understand most games that weren't translated into Russian, some films if they were worth the effort. Surely there would be some other Russians there, or at least people who were new to the state.

Done. He had finally taken down the last of his posters, making the walls look as if nobody had even lived in this room. The only thing left was his bed and desk, everything else had been taken down to the moving truck. He'd be lying if he said he didn't feel a little emotional, he thought the next time he would be moving it would be strictly his choice. He was 18 after all, it wasn't exactly far off. He even had a few ideas of places where he would live, but that would never happen now, and he'd probably have to save up and work even harder to get a place in Colorado. Nothing could be done about it now though, so best to just carry these boxes down and clamour into the car to drive to the airport. It was a nice flight, but he had gotten choked up over seeing his beloved home country from high above, leaving it forever. He could always visit some day, they did have family here after all, but it wouldn't be the same. He had to leave all of his friends behind, though he had promised to visit once they had finally left school. It was worrying, because it wasn't like moving schools near the start, it was right at the end. People would already start to miss their friends, already being so close once to already be losing contact, and now Aleks would be jumping into the picture with nobody to miss him when he left. God, this was going to be a nightmare. There was an upside though, he'd have quicker access to games, and events that never took place in Russia. His love for vodka would stay, people would probably call him an alcoholic if they were anything but Russian, but it was just seen as normal to drink so much at this age. It had never bothered his parents, so why would it bother anybody else?

They had arrived at their new house at nightfall, and Aleks was already tired from the flight, so would leave most of his unpacking for the next day. Luckily, it was a Saturday so he wouldn't have to go to school the day after moving here. It was weird already, hotter than he had thought, he must have looked like a zombie compared to all the tanned people around him. They seemed to be used to the weather, wearing perfectly normal clothes, but he was struggling not to just wander about in his underwear. His room was larger than before, more wall space for posters and more storage space for music and games. He laid his bass guitar against his new bed, it was comfy but still unfamiliar; it felt like staying in a hotel room. He yawned, looking at the clock it was only half past four in the afternoon, so he unpacked for a couple of hours and stopping before he got to his computer. He'd break it trying to set it up in this state.

"Aleksandr!" His mother called from down the stairs, she was surprisingly chirpy. "Dinner in ten minutes!"

Dinner was nice, they had a whole Russian exclusive meal to mark their life in this new place. They had started off with Okroshka, a cold soup that Aleks had never been a major fan of, but it still tasted like home and that was what he needed right now. They carried on to the main course, some Pelmeni which was a pretty basic meal. They had used up all of their ingredients that they brought from Russia, and once they were done they had a small drink and watched films together. He was happy, that was for sure, at least when he moved this time he brought somebody with him. His mother, Faina, decided to greet their neighbours and had dragged Aleks along with her incase there was somebody his age, whilst his father got his affairs in order for work in the morning. The first few houses were quite plain, nice people who asked a lot of questions about Russia and the town they were from. Still nobody his age, all far too old or far too young. They didn't want to venture too far, it was getting late after all.

The last house they had decided to visit was quite small but sweet. A small Latino woman opened the door, with a large smile on her face. Aleks could see into their house, it looked as if they had just finished their dinner. A small dog was roaming around the hall, a dachshund of some sort.

"Puppy Cop!" A voice called, revealing to belong to a boy around his age but with a surprisingly thick goatee.

He wore a pokemon shirt and a pair of black jeans, he looked up at Aleks and then to his mother.

"¿Quiénes son ellos" He asked, picking up the dog and walking over to the door.

"They're new, just moved in across the street." She said, her English was not perfect and her accent was thick.

"Thank god that last couple moved out, they were so loud!" He shrieked, and Aleks had a hard time not covering his ears. "Sorry, where are my manners. I'm Edwin, my friends call me Eddie."

"Nice to meet you Edwin." Faina smiled, looking over at Aleks to say something.

"Hey, I'm Aleks." He forced a smile, not sure whether to shake the boy's hand or not.

"Oooh, nice accents. Where are you from?" Eddie asked, he sounded like any other American but he had the tanned skin.

"Russia, we just moved here today." Aleks explained after his mother was silent.

"We've got some leftover Vodka if you want some." He giggled, it was a high pitched giggle.

Faina let out a small laugh, and Eddie's mother gave him a stern look. It didn't offend Aleks though, he fit the stereotype perfectly.

"Well we best to going, I guess you'll see Edwin at school on Monday." She said, smiling at Aleks.

"Yeah I guess." Aleks shuffled his feet awkwardly, this guy seemed a little too hyperactive for his taste.

"Cool! I'll see you on Monday my homie!" He yelled, letting out another high pitched giggle.

The door was shut, and they walked back down the street to their new home.

"He seemed nice." Faina said quietly.

"I guess, a little loud." Aleks mumbled.

"Yes because you're so quiet. I've heard you yelling at your games Aleks." She chuckled, nudging him lightly in the shoulder.

She was a small woman, about 5'6" at most, looking terribly small against Aleks - who was 5"10 at least - but it didn't really bother him any more. She was just like a normal mother to him, despite the adoption papers, and even though they let him keep his last name if he wanted to, he still considered himself a part of the family. When they got back, Aleks' father was locked away in his new study, and Faina went off to clear up after dinner. Aleks jogged up the stairs, collapsing down on this bed for his well earned rest.

Sunday was quite boring to begin with, putting his computer together had taken it out of him and he couldn't really be bothered to play anything. He had checked his Facebook though, having about 6 inboxes from people from school, and a few pictures being posted up for his farewell party. Small tears formed in his eyes, and he sniffled and blinked them away. He was going to miss them, more than anything, he felt like an outsider here. He had a few missed calls, and a couple of texts from his friends.

'**Call me when you get there!**'

'**Did your flight go okay?**'

'**This time difference is gonna suck, what time is it there?**'

'**How is your new house, we've gotta skype as soon as possible!**'

So he did, he installed Skype as soon as he could and talked all through the night. One of his best friends had cried, excusing herself quickly and leaving the call for about half an hour. They hadn't played any games as they always had, they just sat and talked. They all talked about plans for visiting at the end of the year, how everybody was doing without Aleks and how Aleks was doing without them. He briefly told them about Eddie, and they joked about how he was 'replacing them already'. Russia was about nine hours ahead of the U.S, depending on where you talk about, so they could only talk so long before his friends had to sleep. He had to plan out how this whole new school was going to play into his life anyway, he had to figure out when he'd have to get up and when he'd have to leave, which was the best way to walk, what he'd need and what classes he was having. It looked like he had Math first thing, great. It wasn't as if he found it hard, just so boring that he wanted to kill himself over it.

Then he slept, or at least struggled to. He'd have to be the new kid, again. Surely that Eddie kid was gonna drag him around everywhere, acting like he'd never been to a high school before in his life. He'd introduce him to his friends, who hopefully wouldn't be as loud as him. Who knows though, it could all work out just fine.


End file.
